Development of widely useable simulator for optimization of walking form in water

Abstract The objective of this study was to develop the widely useable simulator for optimization of walking form in water. The simulator consists of two calculation parts, one for joint torque and another for muscle force. In the simulation, joint angles are set as design parameters, and joint torque and muscle force are calculated repeatedly until the objective function becomes the maximum value. By using this simulator, the optimal walking form for the training of elderly people was calculated as example. It was found that the large fluid forces act on the shank and foot during the swing phase in the obtained optimal form.